This invention relates generally to a method of stringing tennis, and similar, racquets, and more particularly to such a method productive of racquets having superior playing qualities and which can be repaired more quickly and inexpensively than can racquets strung in conventional fashion.
Tennis racquets and racquets of similar character, such as badminton, racquet ball and squash racquets, have for years been strung in such a way that damage to the strings can only be repaired by either patching the damaged areas alone or by replacing the strings in their entirety. Patching is often difficult and time-consuming because each job requires its own plan of attack, depending upon knot positions, string patterns, availability of hole space for the accommodation of strings, etc. Patching is particularly difficult in areas near the corners of the racquet frame where the string holes in the frame carry multiple strands of string, and where it is occasionally necessary, for that reason, to enlarge with an awl one or more of the clear space areas within a hole or holes to make room for an additional strand, or strands, of the patching string. Consequently, the patching of tennis, and similar, racquets, is a time-consuming chore to the racquet stringer for which he is not always well compensated. Moreover, patching often results in a poor quality repair job, for which reason the better players generally prefer to have their racquets completely restrung rather than merely patched. Complete restringing is, however, rather costly, especially where the finer qualities of string are used. This is not difficult to understand when it is appreciated that the average tennis racquet requires in the neighborhood of 32 or 33 feet of string, which, when of high quality, results in a repair cost of something like $30.00 or $35.00 to the customer.